Coneflowers and Crumb Cake

Today I'm taking it easy and spending some relaxing and quiet time in my art studio.  Yesterday, Gord and I spread a yard of bark mulch over part of our front garden.  We've been meaning to do this for several months ... but the weather wasn't co-operating and when there was the odd day of sunshine, we wanted to have fun in the sun instead of working.  But now that summer has FINALLY arrived and we're having a long stretch of beautiful weather, we thought we should get it done.  We still need another half yard and plan on doing that tomorrow.

Today's "Ways to Use It" challenge is to use Kraft paper ... or Crumb Cake if using SU! products.   I used both Crumb Cake ink and Crumb Cake DP (designer paper) for my card.  This is another one of my new digi stamps from Wax Fruit Company - I love coneflowers! Hope you like.

"Coneflowers and Crumb Cake"

 

 

Stamps:  Coneflowers Digital Stamp (Wax Fruit Company) Paper:  Soft Suede, Crumb Cake DP, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Rose Red, Soft Suede, Always Artichoke (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Sponges, three copper brads, sticky strips and dimensionals

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I printed the coneflowers image onto Whisper White cardstock and cut it out.  I lightly sponged all over with Crumb Cake ink ... in hindsight, it would have been easier to sponge first and then cut out - I'm always learning! :)  I sponged on top of the Crumb Cake petals with Rose Red and inked the stems with an Always Artichoke Stampin' Write marker.

I randomly sponged Crumb Cake ink over the Crumb Cake DP, making the edges and corners darker.  I cut a strip of Soft Suede cardstock and sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink.

I mounted all the pieces as shown in the picture above, adding the three copper brads and popping up the coneflowers with dimensionals to add depth.

Fabulous Flowers

I watercolour the flowers and leaves using diluted re-inkers.  I used Pretty in Pink and Real Red inks for my flowers and I love this color combination.  They are quite bright and it's a nice contrast to the finished card I made with them, which has an aged and distressed look and feel to it.  Hope you like.

"Fabulous Flowers"

 

 

Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, En Francais (SU!) Paper:  Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Watercolor paper
Ink:  Soft Suede, Old Olive, Versamark; Re-inkers:  Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Old Olive Accessories & Tools:  Black embossing powder, heat tool, sponges, water mister, Aqua Painter, 1/4" Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon, sticky strips, glue dots and dimensionals

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I stamped the florets and leaves with Versamark ink onto watercolor paper (I made a few extra for spares).  I embossed the images with black embossing powder.  As per the tutorial in the Techniques section - I misted the images with water and added re-inker until I was happy with the look of the flowers and leaves.  I let them dry and then cut them out.

I stamped the En Francais in Soft Suede ink onto Crumb Cake cardstock.  I ripped the edges to give it an aged look.  I sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink and also lightly sponged the same ink, randomly over the paper.  I stamped the background leaf stem and leaves in Old Olive ink, adding a second stamping of just a few leaves to the left of the main stem - this gives me more room to add flowers.  I used my bone folder to slightly curl the petals of the flowers upwards and then secured the flowers and leaves on top of the stamped stem using glue dots.

I tied the ribbon around the panel and added a knot on top of the stem.  I mounted the complete panel onto a card base of Soft Suede.

Distressed Daisy

Today's color challenge from Splitcoaststampers is "White, Gray and Turquoise".  I definitely found today's colors a challenge!  I decided to make a daisy from my "Blossoms Petal Builder" punch.  So there is no stamping on this card ... just punches and sponging.  I sponged the petals with gray and that led to a "distressed" type of card.  Hope you like.

"Distressed Daisy"

 

 

 

Paper:  Basic Gray, Tempting Turquoise (SU!); Bazzill White

Ink:  Basic Gray (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  Blossoms Petal Builder punch, sponges, three gray mini brads, sticky strips, Tombow glue and dimensionals

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I punched six of the small, narrow petals from the Blossoms Petal Builder out of Bazzill White cardstock.  I punched one of the wide petal and then cut it down slightly with my scissors to form the center of the flower.  I sponged the center with gray ink until it was almost solid and I also sponged around the edges of all the petals.  I put a drop of glue at the thin tip of three of the petals and glued them to the "center".  I then used my fingers to shape the other three petals, added a small piece of dimensional to the middle of each and glue to the tip ... and attached them on top of the other petals.  It's hard to tell in the picture above, but the flower has a lot of dimension.

I sponged the two pieces of Tempting Turquoise cardstock with the Basic Gray ink and also sponged around the edges of all the pieces with Basic Gray (including the card base).  I drew in a stem for the flower with a Stampin' Write marker and attached the flower head using sticky strips.  I mounted all the pieces as shown above, popping up the main image panel with dimensionals.

Vase of Flowers

Today I went to a $1 store near me ... my friend Heather mentioned that they are now carrying some great scrapbooking / card making supplies.  I ended up buying six sets of clear stamps that are really cute (only $3.00 ea!!).  What a deal!!  Here's my first card using one of my new stamps and it's for today's SCS Challenge - Technique Lover's Challenge - Stamp the Sentiment over the Image.  Hope you like.

"Vase of Flowers"

 

 

 

Stamps:  Marina Drive (Heidi Grace stamps); Cottage Garden sentiment (SU!) Paper:  Early Espresso, Early Espresso Designer Series, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink:  Early Espresso; Stampin' Write markers: Soft Suede, Old Olive, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette (SU!)  Accessories & Tools:  1/4" Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon, glue dot, adhesives & dimensionals

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I inked the flower stamp with Stampin' Write markers: Rose Red and Old Olive.  I stamped the image onto the Whisper White cardstock and then colored in the flowers using the Pink Pirouette Stampin' Write marker.  The vase was inked with Soft Suede.

I inked the sentiment with Early Espresso and stamped it over top of the vase.  I mounted the main image onto a frame of Early Espresso cardstock.  I added an Early Espresso knotted ribbon, and secured the knot to the cardstock with a glue dot.

I mounted the striped background paper onto the card base and then added the main image panel, popping it up with dimensionals to add depth.